Providing visual support Essay

Nancy is 24 year old women and a house wife by profession. She is disabled by birth and totally dependant on wheelchair. She stays with her husband, who is software professional and busy most of the time. Being a housewife, Nancy has vey little technology knowledge and finds it difficult to use technology spontaneously. Nancy doesn’t want her disability to become her weakness and wants to work like a normal housewife, like cooking for her husband, washing utensils etc. She wants a kitchen which is universally designed and where she should be able to work effectively like a normal person with ease of use and learning being her first priority. How should an interior designer design a universally designed kitchen keeping in mind people like Nancy? †¢ Making the height of the kitchen cabinet, Cook top, Microwave stand accessible by wheelchair. †¢ Having an adjustable-height cabinets, can help all users to use them effectively. Also customizable design which can be changed based on user preferences also makes design effective and more usable. †¢ Having a removable sink and drying rack will give sufficient space for food preparation. This can again be re-fitted as and when required. Thus giving flexibility to people like Nancy or old aged people, who can’t stand and cook. †¢ Foldable cabinet doors under cooktop, providing sufficient knee space. †¢ Providing visual support can also help users to use kitchen more easily and effectively. †¢ Voice based support in kitchen can also be a good idea, thus making design accessible for people with low vision. †¢ Automated dishwasher or microwave system can help them easily placing dish without much effort. Let’s see some examples of universally designed kitchens Persona 3. He is a retired professional and stays alone in his 2 bedroom apartment which is on the 10th floor. He finds it difficult to walk and climb stairs and also have sight problem. Rodney has very little technology knowledge and finds it difficult to remember things, due to his growing age. He depends on electronic wheelchair most of the time. He needs an elevator system in his apartment which can accommodate his wheelchair also, making his life easy at this age. How can we make a universally designed elevator? †¢ Increasing the width of the elevator hence giving ample space to use wheelchairs and thus making it approachable †¢ Big display screen, which displays the floor details big and clear, thus accommodating people like Rodney to use it with ease †¢ Voice based support system, which informs the user which floor the user is in, can also help the disabled user to use them effectively. Let’s see example of a universally designed elevator Conclusion: Irrespective of age, ability or disability and situations, every has the right to effectively use any products or services, hence designers should always be conscious about this fact and implement their design ideas to serve one and everyone. This is what universal design means. Bibliography http://idea.ap.buffalo.edu/ http://www. design. ncsu. edu/cud/about_ud/udprincipleshtmlformat. html#top Frascara J. , (1997), User-Centred Graphic Design: Mass Communication and Social Change, Taylor Francis, London